Rings World Champion Lan Xingyu

The 2021 World Champion did it again.

Interview ➙ China’s Lan Xingyu on regaining world still rings title: ‘It’s a huge boost to my state of mind

Zaika had the best strength holds. But 0.3 lower in difficulty than Lan Xingyu. IF Zaika adds the pull to Invert Cross mount, his difficulty score should be highest next year. As Russia is weak on Rings, I’m predicting their specialist will be on the team in 2027.

1. Lan Xingyu, China, 14.766
2. Eleftherious Petrounias, Greece, 14.333
3. Artur Avetisyan, Armenia, 14.233
4. Oka Shinnosuke, Japan, 14.133
5. Ilya Zaika, Russia, 14.100
6. Mehmet Ayberk Kosak, Türkiye, 13.800
7. Courtney Tulloch, Great Britain, 13.366
8. Glen Cuyle, Belgium, 12.833

Fifth worlds rings medal for Petrounias. Legend.

Three-time world rings champion Eleftherios Petrounias on newly earned silver: ‘We’re still looking for the gold routine’

The two using Triple Backs had landing deductions, taking them out of the medal fight.

IF Zaika

Bars World Champion Kaylia Nemour

What a shocker. 😀

Kaylia used one of her easier routines — without Nemour 1/2 and DLO 1/1 dismount — and still wins with ease. Defending her title from 2025 Worlds.

We really need someone like Suni to come back with multiple connecting skills. Kaylia has no real competition right now.

Rebeca plans to be back on Bars soon, as well. Her goal to help Brazil qualify a full team to the L.A. Olympics.

1. Kaylia Némour, Algeria, 15.333
2. Helen Kevric, Germany, 14.833
3. Skye Blakely, United States, 14.600
4. Elena Colas, France, 14.533
5. Naomi Visser, Netherlands, 14.366
6. Alyona Glotova, Russia, 14.233
7. Giulia Perotti, Italy, 13.266
8. Elisa Iorio, Italy, 12.500

Podium looks good to me. Skye was a little better than Elena and Naomi.

Falls for both gymnasts from Italy.

Interview ➙ Germany’s Helen Kevric finds silver lining in worlds silver on uneven bars

Pommel World Champion Hamlet Manukyan

BEST apparatus Final in Rotterdam. Top guys so good, deciding the ranking is almost subjective. Most would be close to 10.0 under the old judging system.

1. Hamlet Manukyan, Armenia, 15.300
2. Gabriele Targhetta, Italy, 15.233
3. Mamikon Khachatryan, Armenia, 15.000
4. Nariman Kurbanov, Kazakhstan, 14.933
5. Patrick Hoopes, United States, 14.933
6. Hur Woong, South Korea, 14.833
7. Kilan van der Aa, Belgium, 14.733
8. Hashimoto Daiki, Japan, 13.466

Gold and Bronze for Armenia. And those two are NOT the typical tall, slim Pommel build. Born talented. Super well coached.

Armenia hosting next year’s European Championships in Yerevan.

Interview ➙ Armenia’s Mamikon Khachatryan on pommel horse bronze

Hur Woong suffered a 0.3 neutral deduction. I’m not sure why. Apparently it was for warm-up overtime. Hmm …

Vault World Champion Rebeca Andrade

All hail.

Rebeca did it again. One of the very best Vaulters of all time.

(Simone is here. Perhaps watching Rebeca will inspire a return to training for the Olympics. 😀)

  1. Rebeca Andrade, Brazil, 14.466
  2. Claire Pease, United States, 14.233
  3. Skye Blakely, United States, 14.166
  4. Lia-Monica Fontaine, Canada, 14.083
  5. Ellie Black, Canada, 13.966
  6. Victoria Mata, Mexico, 13.933
  7. Yeo Seojeong, South Korea, 13.716
  8. Abigail Martin, Great Britain, 13.716

Full results.

A fantastic Final.

The big surprise to many was Victoria showing a superb Cheng. Her second vault was only Yurchenko 1/1 but WAIT ’til next year.

Yeo Seojeong had a fantastic Cheng, as well, but fell on her Yurchenko 2/1 twist.

Lia-Monica is a great vaulter. I thought Ellie was even better — but judges / Fujitsu devalued her Handspring Front Layout 1/1 to pike. Any gymnast, anywhere, would call that a Layout. The software should be changed.

It’s particularly unfair because Cheng can’t be devalued to Pike. ALL the Handspring twist vaults need be evaluated equally.

Note that the top 6 are all from the Americas.

Floor World Champion Fred Richard

It ain’t braggin’ if you can do it. Congratulations Fred!

Fred is one of the few male gymnasts relentlessly promoting our sport. Being a World Champion will certainly help.

1. Fred Richard, United States, 14.633
2. Jake Jarman, Great Britain, 14.600
3. Artem Dolgopyat, Israel, 14.466
4. Doi Ryosuke, Japan, 14.366
5. Yahor Sharamkou, Belarus, 14.000
6. Arseniy Dukhno, Russia, 13.666
7. Noam Berkovich, Israel, 13.500
8. Carlos Yulo, Philippines, 13.233

Full results.

Interview ➙ Crystal ball helps see Frederick Richard clear to world floor exercise title

I spoke with Jake’s parents at the Neutral Deduction MAG coffee shop meet-up. They are very pleased with how the season’s gone this year.

Summing-up Individual Gymnastics Championships Rotterdam – Skye Blakely wins.

  1. Skye Blakely, United States, 55.733
  2. Lyudmila Roshchina, Russia, 55.199
  3. Ke Qinqin, China, 55.032

Full results.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Pundits

Surprises

  • Kaylia, Claire, and Skye were the names most often listed as favourites
  • IF Kaylia stayed on Beam and Bars, she’d most like win. Especially if she competed Yurchenko Double Twist again.
  • first rotation, Kaylia took off for Vault with her feet partly on the foam safety collar — deciding at the instant not to twist. The correct decision. With credit only for Layout Yurchenko, it seemed her chances at a medal were gone. 1.666 lower than qualification. Better than a mat would be to simply increase the size of the Spring Board.
  • Claire had been quite consistent on Beam this season — but fell on Layout in Acro Series. Half the gymnasts fell on Beam, a disappointment.
  • Liudmila Roshchina finishing 2nd shouldn’t have been a surprise. She been one of the top Russians for a few years now. BUT just 3 days before the official start date of the competition, Roshchina’s visa was approved but those of Melnikova, Listunova, and Kalmykova denied.
  • In fact, despite the years denied international competition, Russia is just as strong as before in Men’s and Women’s Gymnastics. For the record, I support banning them so long as murdering dictator-for-life Putin continues his invasion of Ukraine.
  • Elena Colas continues to impress. It’s just a matter of time before she’s on an AA podium.
  • Despite the fall on Beam, I don’t think Flavia’s ever looked better.

Click PLAY or watch highlights on YouTube.

Highlights

NOT a great All-Around Final. Not as many highlights as hoped. Most gymnasts were better in qualification.

  • Ke Qinqin has a fairly safe Yurchenko Double Twist.
  • Ke Qinqin is my favourite Beamer. Use her as the ideal model. But fall on Double Tuck dismount. STILL scored 13.833.
  • new mom, Alice Kinsella, was the top British gymnast. Like Canada, GBR had plenty of problems on Beam.
  • Claire Pease has the best Pak. Floaty. Our future Video Analysis Computer execution judge could use that as the model for zero deduction.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Skye Blakely is World Champion

NOT one of the best Women’s Gymnastics All-Around World Championships of all time — but Skye was excellent. She’s been great in all 3 competitions, so far.

  1. Skye Blakely, United States, 55.733
  2. Lyudmila Roshchina, Russia, 55.199
  3. Ke Qinqin, China, 55.032

Roshchina had a terrific day, as well.

Ke Qinqin Bronze with a fall on Beam. To be fair, she might be the most impressive Beam worker of all time. Use her for the Fujitsu computer model.

  1. Kaylia Némour, Algeria, 54.998
  2. Sugihara Aiko, Japan, 54.765
  3. Elena Colas, France, 54.666
  4. Claire Pease, United States, 54.232
  5. Alba Petisco, Spain, 54.198

Full results.

I predicted Kaylia would win. But she took off the Spring Board with her heels on the safety collar. Decided in that split second not to twist. SAFE. But of course her difficulty score was way down.

Many predicted Claire would win. Looked good. Cheng was perhaps a little better. But she had a fall on Beam. More than half of the finalists fell on Beam.

Elena is destined for the AA podium. But she only has a Yurchenko 1/1 in 2026.

Sugihara had a good day. But not enough for a medal.

Vivi Crain – working Double Scorpion Turn on Beam

No complete double turn yet — but it looks possible.

It’s called the Berar turn on Floor.

Fun fact. Vivi and Lavi Crain started at the same Gym club as Kam Nelson ➙ Avant Coeur Gymnastics in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Backflip Off A Giant Iceberg

No surprise. Molly started as a gymnast before switching to Diving.

Champion Cliff Diver Molly Carlson becomes the first woman to dive from an iceberg in a world-first adventure.

Partnering with legendary ice climber Will Gadd, Molly trained for months ahead of the dive and learnt new skills for the challenge, including ice climbing and cold water training, before heading to the Newfoundland coast in search of the perfect free floating iceberg.

I was actually more worried for Will, as the iceberg starts to collapse while he is rappelling off.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Who will be Gymnastics World Champion 2026?

If Kaylia competes YDT on Vault & stays on Beam — she’ll be tough to defeat.

Claire Pease looked great in the Team Final. She seems to be locked in perfectly for this competition.

Skye has been ON as well. I’d rank her as 3rd most likely to be World Champion, especially if she nails Beam perfectly this time.